Nearly 50,000 sick and disabled people have been hit by Tory cuts to ESA in the last year alone

Labour is calling on the Government to immediately reverse key social security payments to people with disabilities after new analysis has shown that nearly 50,000 people have been hit by cuts to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the last year alone.

Labour analysis of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data found that there are 46,000 sick and disabled people in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG) of ESA whose claim is under a year old. Each of these claimants will have had their benefits cut as a result of government cuts of £30 per week first introduced in April 2017 for new claimants.

The analysis also shows that 29,000 of those affected – around two thirds – are suffering from mental and behavioural disorders. In total, around half a million sick and disabled people will be affected when the cut fully takes effect.

Today, International Day of Disabled People (3 December), Labour’s Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Marsha de Cordova MP, is calling on the Government to reverse the cut.